Last week I went to the BurdaStyle London Meetup at the swanky Sketch restaurant. I’m more of a quilter than a dressmaker (although I’ve just attempted sewing a block/sloper bodice so that I can start making my own clothes for my own hard-to-fit measurements), but I didn’t find that my lack of clothes-sewing made any difference. It was great to meet the people there – thanks to Melissa of Fehr Trade for inviting me, and thanks to Nora and Carol of BurdaStyle, who hosted the evening and who were very skilled at introducing people to each other.

Now that I’ve joined BurdaStyle, I’ve got to say how impressed I am with the whole open-source philosophy. That doesn’t often come out in the world of sewing patterns. No wonder they get so many new members every month. As someone who works with digital and who knows the value of open source, I’m totally behind that endeavour. And as soon as I can figure out how to work with my own measurements, I’ll be using some of the copyright-free BurdaStyle patterns to make some clothes for myself!